Innovative project seeks to reproduce queen bees for export in the O’Higgins Region – 2024-08-19 13:03:05

This new milestone was celebrated with the seminar “O’Higgins Region, beekeeping territory: Challenges and opportunities for the development of beekeeping” in the municipal auditorium of the capital of Colchagua. “We are happy to support and promote this type of scientific initiatives that seek to research, innovate and strengthen knowledge in beekeeping,” said the Regional Governor, Pablo Silva Amaya, adding that “we are convinced that our region needs to invest resources in this type of initiatives that contribute to developing concrete actions for the benefit of bees, beekeepers and our nature.”

Various honey producers came to the event to listen to thematic presentations, experiences from companies and academia, as well as to discussion panels that addressed the union situation and the perspectives of the sector, all with the aim of promoting the honey and pollination business. This meeting was held as part of the Honey Expo on August 9 and 10 in Santa Cruz, organized by the Association of Beekeepers of the Sixth Region (Apiunisexta AG), financed by the Regional Government of O’Higgins and its Regional Council, in addition to the substantial support of the Municipality of Santa Cruz, which allowed beekeepers from the region to show a wide variety of beekeeping products to the community.

The director of the CTRV of the Universidad Mayor and coordinator of the project, Juan Velozo, indicated that the new project focuses on the production of certified biological material that is then exported mainly to countries such as Canada. Under the Under the auspices of this initiative and with a SERCOTEC project, the new Beekeeping and Technology Cooperative Bees Chile Ltda. (CATACH), which It was also presented at the activities held at Expo Miel 2024.

According to Velozo, there are 27 beneficiaries on this occasion, who belong to 13 municipalities in the three provinces of the O’Higgins region. With the work they do together with honey producers, they seek to encourage the international market and exports, provide market opportunities, as well as grant greater sustainability to their business, explained Juan Velozo. “The values ​​in the international honey market have remained low for several years, which has strongly affected local producers, affecting the profitability of their ventures, which mainly correspond to small producers. Added to this is what happens with the alteration of honey, which lowers the value and produces unfair competition, damaging the internal market,” he indicated.

There is no doubt that, throughout these years present in the region, and “now we contribute to this activity, very relevant for agriculture, because pollination is the basis for the productivity and quality of fruit that grows in this region, a region with great agricultural potential,” said Velozo.

“THE BEST HONEY” COMPETITION

Juan Velozo thanked the meeting and the presence of various regional authorities who expressed their commitment to beekeeping, as well as supporting its producers and the improvement of the sector. Among them, the Regional Governor, Pablo Silva Amaya; the regional director of Corfo, Oscar Avila; the regional director of Sercotec, Leandro Carreño; Sonia Nuñez, president of APIUNISEXTA AG; representatives of the municipal council, of various beekeeping companies and suppliers, among others.

Likewise, the team from Universidad Mayor organized a contest for the best honey in the area within the Expo Miel, with Raúl Franz, producer from Casita de la Abeja, winning with his polyfloral product. “All the competing honeys underwent a prior analysis to determine their floral composition, which gives them very special characteristics. Corontillo and Quillay prevailed among the winners,” explained the director of the CTRV. The preselection of the winners began with a popular tasting among those visiting the fair and who chose from the tasting. Later, the chosen honeys went on to a technical tasting held on the second day of the fair, where the three award-winning honeys were selected.

The goal of our work is to continue developing this sector and adding value to honey, added the researcher from Universidad Mayor, stimulating domestic consumption through dissemination and education. “You can recognize honey by its distinctive organoleptic characteristics, so that people do not buy just any honey, much less adulterated honey, and do so directly from the producers. We want to achieve a seal so that producers can give traceability to their products, in addition to continuing to support them in their production chain. For its part, the market for mother bees has a value and demand that represents a great opportunity for Chile today,” concluded Prof. Velozo.